Panel scheduled to hear proposed new Fremont Street busker rules
A three-member panel of the Las Vegas City Council is expected on Monday to hear a proposed set of new rules for street performers in downtown, prompted by “overwhelming evidence” that some buskers are exploiting a daily lottery system.
The city’s Recommending Committee, during a session that starts at 10 a.m., is scheduled to address the proposed amendments to an ordinance last tweaked in 2015, according to the meeting’s agenda.
It can choose to recommend the bill be passed or rejected by the full seven-member council at a later date, propose changes or possibly delay the matter.
The city has said that it learned of fraudulent activity within the daily lottery, in place since 2015, that randomly assigns registered performers to one of 38 designated locations in the Fremont Street Experience. Officials said that assignments were being sold and bartered and that hundreds of phantom or duplicate online accounts have been found in the system.
Proposed amendments include instituting photo verification cards as part of the registration process for performers. There are also other unrelated changes within the bill, including calls for certain buskers to obtain general liability insurance and a proposed solution to prevent so-called “sound wars” between performers.
Regulations at the public pedestrian mall have long been the source of a debate over free speech, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern Nevada has indicated it was willing to sue the city if it went through with passing the amendments.
The city’s Recommending Committee meets inside council chambers at City Hall, 495 South Main St.
Contact Shea Johnson at sjohnson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272. Follow @Shea_LVRJ on Twitter.